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Class. 
Book. 






59th Congress, ) SENATE. ( Document 

non. ' \ 1 No. 19. ' 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA. 

*^ ' Mr. Gallinger presented the following 

PETITION TO CONGRESS FROM THE CITIZENS' COMMITTEE ON 
PUBLIC SCHOOL AFFAIRS, SHOWING THE OPERATION OF THE 
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SINCE 
JULY 2, 1906. 



December 6, 1906.— Referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia and 

ordered to be printed. 



To the Honorcible the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled: 
The Citizens' Committee on Public School Affairs, representing 
the sentiments of the great mass of citizens and patrons interested 
in the educational system of the District of Columbia, plead the 
privilege of setting before your august body certain considerations 
and facts growing out of certain legislation enacted by the last 
session of Congress (59th Cong., 1st sess.), providing for the reor- 
ganization of the board of education and for the increase of the 
salaries of the teachers and the executive officers of the schools of 
the District of Columbia, and of certain unjust and unlawful acts 
of the board of education and the superintendent of schools affecting 
injuriously the livelihood and reputation of some of the most worthy 
teachers and the efficienc.y of the educational system of the District, 
and respectfulh' petition you to remedy the grievances herein set 
forth by such investigation and action as your wisdom and sense of 
justice and fair play will dictate. 

DESIGN or THE LAW. 

The law passed at the last session of Congress, entitled "An act 
to fix and regulate the salaries of teachers, school officers, and other 
employees of the board of education of the District of Columbia " 
and approved June 20, 1906, was a broad and statesmanlike effort 
to iDroperly compensate the great bodj^ of earnest and faithful 
teachers of the District for the services they were rendering and 
thus " to bring the school system of the District to a state of effi- 
ciency commensurate with what the public school system of the 
national capital ought to be." The law was clearly designed to 



2 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIAv^^ 

benefit and thereby to encourage the efforts of all teachers and officers 
in the system, and certainly not t;o work injury to any of them, 
either in the loss of position or in a reduction of salary. In the 
House of Representatives, Mr. Morrell, in submitting the report 
from the Committee on the District of Columbia, said: 

While at first, in " view of the testimony submitted, the committee was of 
the opinion that radical reform in the school system was necessary, yet as 
the hearings advanced and the committee became better acquainted with the 
school system as it now maintains, the conclusion was reached that the 
organization and teaching system should not be disrupted, but should be 
retaiiled. at least for the present, as now constituted with the few alteorations 
contained in the bill in regard to management. (H. K^t. No. 3395^ 59th 
Cong., 1st sess.) - ' , 

In the Senate, Mr. Burkett, in submitting the report from the 
CJommittee on the District of Columbia, said: 

It will be noticed that this does not decrease the number of employees nor 
remove anyone, but changes names, somewhat and gives ttie responsibility of ^ 
the high schools to the assistant superintendent, and gives the place that 
was held by the director of high schools the name of director of intermediate 
instructor. (S. Rept. No, 3974, 59th Couij., 1st Fess.) 

In the debates upon the bill in the Senate, Senator Burkett, on 
June 8, 1906, explained the purpose of the law as follows: 

The recommendation of the committee will not do away with anybody's jolJ. 
* * * Every person \A'ho drew a salary last year will draw a larger salary 
this year than ever before in the school svsteni under this bill. (Cong. Rec. 
p. 8306.). 

They will have their jobs, and by virtue of the <f act that this bill raises the 
salaries, they will have their salaries raised. I will guarantee the Senator 
(Spooner) there is not a soul who will lose his job by this bill. (Cong. Rec, 
p. 8307.) 

The remarks of Senator Carter on June 9, 1906, in discussing an 
amendment which he offered to the fourth section of the bill, shows 
unmistakably the intention that the teachers then in the service 
were to be continued in their positions. 

Senator Carter said : 

Mr. President, the Senator has stated the reasons which impel me to offer 
the amendment, although he is mistaken with reference to the limitation pro- 
vided in the amendment itself. I understood the fact to be that teachers here- 
after hired will be employed at $1,000 per year. We will have the anomalous 
condition of teachers of more than five years' experience — and I am told in the 
list of 72 there are j'bout 10 such — who are now receiving $700 per annum, 
being compelled to work for $850 the coming year, whereas the teacher hired 
next Sei)tember. of like experience, will be receiving $1,000. 

I can readily perceive that a teacher might quickly evade the law by re- 
signing and being reappointed, but it is desirable that such subterfuge should 
not be rendered necessary as to experienced teachers. (Cong. Rec, P. 8401.) 



In spite, however^ of the foregoing expressions of the intent of the 
law by the framers thereof and the express and explicit provision of 
the law itself, to wit : 

That no teacher or officer in the service of the public schools of the District 
of Columbia at tli^ time of the passage of this act shall, by the operation of this 
act, be required to take any examination, either mental or physical, to be con- 
tini^pd in the service — 



DEC 111906 
D.ofO. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 3 

the new board of education which was appointed July 2^ 1906, de- 
terniined upon the fiction that all of the teachers who were in the 
service at the time of the passage of the act had to be " reappointed " 
by them. And thereupon individual members, as events seem to 
prove, drew up their lists of those whom they desired " reappointed " 
and their black lists of those whom they did not desire '' reappointed." 
The new superintendent of schools, who was chosen by the board 
of education on August 11, 1906, although an entire stranger to the 
Washington school community, adopted upon his arrival here, or soon 
thereafter, the fiction previously determined upon by the board. . Yet 
in a letter published in the Evening Star on September 15 he stated 
the :^olloAVing: 

By far the greatest diffictilty arose from the fact that no one yet knows posi- 
tively by judicial opinion whether the great body of teachers were or were not 
continued in office. For myself I believe that they were continued by mere 
virtue of the^ legislation. I hold this opinion mainly because the legislation 
does not state the contrary, but there are phrases and clauses in the law which 
make this opinion questionable. 

In 'this connection we beg respectfully to call yotir attention to the 
folloT^ng facts: 

(1) The gre^it body of teachers who were in the service of the pub- 
"^lic schools of the District at the time of the passage of the new law 

governing the schools had been in the employ of the schools for a 
number of 3^ears. 

(2) The board of education which was appointed July 2 did not 
comprise a single member of the former board. It is not believed that 
a single member of the new board had a wide or intimate knowledge 
of the teaching force or of school conditions. Several of the members, 
however, had previous to their appointment shown hostility to certain 
teachers and officers then in the service. 

(3) The superintendent of schools, who was chosen about a month 
prior to the opening of the schools, was at the time of his appointment 
a total stranger to the Washington school system and therefore un- 
acquainted with the great body of teachers upon whose official life he 
presumed to pass immediate judgment. 

The result of this programme of " reappointing " all of the teachers 
was that within less than a month 1,400 were " reappointed for one 
year " at a single meeting of the board of education, leaving about 
200 who were not " reappointed." These 200 souls who were thus 
held up by a superintendent whom the most of them had never seen 
had no means of knowing the cause of the sudden turn of affairs. 
Many of them returned home immediately from their vacations. 
They sought interviews with members of the board of education and 
Avith the new superintendent. Some succeeded, others did not. The 
superintendent was too " busy " to see them. Finally, by September 
14, all were " reappointed," except six or seven among the best, the 
most highly esteemed, and the most worthy teachers of the system, 
who had given from twelve to forty years of faithful and distin- 
guished services to the District schools. 

Prior to the meeting of the board of education on September 14, 
the legal adviser of that body gave as his opinion that the board's 
course in assuming to " reappoint for one year " was contrary to the 
law, as the law^ had automatically continued all the teachers in the 



4 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 

service. Those teachers who had not been " reappointed " were either 
dismissed or were held to have resigned from the schools, on the 
theory that because they had declined to signify their acceptance of 
some fictitious position irregularly tendered them they had separated 
themselves from the service. Thus on the 14th day of September the 
following teachers were for the alleged *' good of the service " dis- 
missed outright without charges and without a hearing : Mrs. Anna J. 
Cooper, principal of the M Street High School ; Mr. John L. Love, a 
teacher in the M Street High School, and Mr. James. B. Clark, super- 
vising principal of the tenth division. Thev were dismissed on Sep- 
tember 14, 1906, to take effect from and after June 30, 1906. Those 
who were adjudged to have separated themselves from the service 
for the reason above stated were Mr. M. M. F. Swartzell, principal- 
of Eastern High School and Mr. J. R. Keane, supervising principal. 
In the matter of the dismissal or the failure to continue these 
teachers in the service of the public schools of the District of Colum- 
bia, we beg to submit for your consideration the following: 

(1) These teachers were dropped from the service without charges 
or hearing just three days before the time for the opening of the 
schools. 

(2) They had spent the most of the summer vacation preparing 
and planning their Avork for the school 3^ear and in performing such 
duties as were assigned them from time to time. 

(3) They were dropped from the service contrary to section 4 and 
section 10 of public act Xo. 254. In at least two cases we are ready 
to show that this violation of the Federal statute was prompted by 
malice and was premeditated. 

(4) They were dropped contrar}^ to the expressed wish of the 
great body of citizens and patrons of the schools. 

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION INCOMPETENT. 

Aside from the wrong and injustice done to these illegally deposed 
teachers there are certain matters of grave import, involving irregu- 
lar and illegal acts and political methods of the present school 
administration, to which we beg further to call A^our attention. The 
new administration has done many things in its short existence to 
justify the charge of incompetence and to create a lack of public 
confidence. It has thrown, by its bungling acts, the school system 
into an unprecedented state of chaos. It has sought to deceive the 
public by flagrant tamperings with the records of the meetings of 
the board of education and of the appointments of teachers. In its 
attempt to evade or override the law which was enacted in the inter- 
est of the teachers it has caused the teachers to lose thousands of dol- 
lars which Congress out of its generosity had granted them. 

Its appointments of teachers have been characterized by gross 
favoritism, nepotism, and political intrigue. Its departure from the 
usual custom of appointing normal graduates to teacherships in one 
branch of the system, besides working great injustice, has destroyed 
the merit system and has tended to place a premium on favoritism, 
sycophancy, and graft. It has allied itself with factionalism, thus 
affecting seriously the morale of the teaching body. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 5 
VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW. 

The superintendent of schools and the board of education have 
violated public act No. 254 in the following particulars : 

(1) Section 2, which provides that meetings of the board of educa- 
tion shall be open to the public. 

(2) Section 3, as to the supervision of the assistant superintend- 
ents. 

(3) Section 6 : (a) As to the recommendation required in the mat- 
ter of promoting teachers; (h) as to the method of promoting teach- 
ers; (c) as to the examination requirement before the appointment of 
teachers; (d) as to the constitution of the boards of examiners; (e) 
as to the status of teachers in the service on June 20, 1906. 

(4) Section 10, which prescribes the manner of the trial or investi- 
gation of teachers. 

An accurate record of the acts of the board of education and of the 
acts and recommendations of the superintendent of schools, the rec- 
ords in the office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or 
the Comptroller of the Treasury, as well as the competent and trust- 
worthy testimony of teachers and citizens, will establish the truth of 
the foregoing. 

These violations of the law were committed when the board of edu- 
cation was not constituted as the law requires. Section 2 of the act 
(Public — No. 254) provides : 

That the control of the public schools of the District of Columbia is hereby 
vested in a board of education to consist of nine members, all of whom shall 
have been for five years immediately preceding their appointment bona fide 
residents of the District of Columbia, and three of whom shall be women. 

All of the unwise, unjust, and illegal acts of the board of education 
of which we complain were committed when the board of education 
consisted of only eight members, but two of whom were women, the 
ninth member to qualify, who was the third woman, not being ap- 
pointed until October 11, 1906. 

NOT THE FAULT OF THE LAW. 

The foregoing grievances are set forth by your petitioners in the 
belief that your august body did not mean to stultify itself when it 
passed the recent law in the interest of the teachers of Washington, 
who at the time of its passage had served long and efficiently and 
faithfully the public schools of the District, and also in the belief 
that you intended thereby to raise the public school system of the 
District to a plane of efficiency and character commensurate with the 
needs and dignity of the capital city of the nation. We believe that 
perfect obedience to both the letter and the spirit of the act "would 
have accomplished your purpose and thereby avoided the confusion, 
the unrest, and the feeling of outrage upon the school system which 
pervades both the teaching body and the public. 

In the spirit which moved the teachers of the District of Colum- 
bia to petition you for relief on a former occasion, we, as citizens 
and parents, lay before you these facts, " in the hope and faith 
that your wisdom jvill see fit to make this city, bequeathed to your 



6 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

immediate care by the wisdom of the ^reat statesmen of the past, an 
example of right dealing in that most important function of govern- 
ment, the education of the children, who are the nation's chief 
responsibility and the nation's chief hope." 

KeV. S. L. CORROTHERS, 

President, 
Chas. E. Lane, 

Secretary^ Ji.09 A street NE, 
Rev. E. H. Hunter, 

Treasurer, 
James L. Neill, 

Attorney at Law. 
Ferdinand D. Lee, 

llOIi- Tenth street. 
Rev. T. J. Brown, 

ll^ll Corcoran street. 
W. L. Steward, 

mis Seventeenth street N^Y . 
Jas. L. Jasper, 

1708 Seventeenth street NW . 
Geo. S. Mabry, 

mm T street N^Y . 
Wilson Wood, 

Spruce street NW. 
G. D. WiLLMMs, M. D., 

1821 Fifteenth street NW. 
Geo. W. Jackson, 
1126 Twenty-second street NW. 
G. H. Richardson, M. D., 

309 Eleventh street NE, 
Thos. a. Johnson, 

3229 Sherman avenue NW, 
A. P. Albert, 

1951 Third street NW, 
Rev. D. E. Wiseman, 
Pastor Church of Our Redeemer^ Lutheran. 
Rev. W. D. Jarvis, 
J Baptist, 

O 



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